New
Study Shows IPM and Baits More Effective Than Baits Alone
(Beyond Pesticides, June 22, 2006) A study published
by researchers at Purdue University’s Center for Urban and Industrial
Pest Management, Comparative
Study of Integrated Pest Management and Baiting for German Cockroach
Management in Public Housing, finds that the use of integrated
pest management (IPM) practices (including vacuuming, sticky trap monitors,
and resident education) and pesticide baits are more effective than
programs that only use baits alone. The researchers conclude that the
long-term costs are similar. The study group included 12 buildings (66
apartments), treated and monitored for cockroaches, over a seven month
period. The study was published in the June 2006 issue of the journal
of the Entomological Society of America 99(3):879-885.

At
29 weeks of study, only one apartment in the IPM group had a high level
of cockroach infestation. In contrast, the apartments in the bait treatment
group had high level infestations at 29 weeks based on overnight trapping
counts. The authors conclude that IPM is a more sustainable method of
population reduction. Sanitation levels in the IPM group significantly
improved at week 29, compared with that at the beginning of the study.
The sanitation levels in the bait treatment group remained similar throughout
the experiment.

The
authors conclude, “We expect that IPM will provide better control
at similar cost compared with bait treatment beyond 29 week.”
However, the study finds that the front end costs associated with the
IPM program are greater, with median costs per apartment during the
29 weeks at $64.8 for IPM and $35.0 for bait treatment only. The median
amount of bait used per apartment in the IPM and bait treatment was
45.0 and 50.0 g, respectively.